HOW SPM WORKS WITH A CPA FIRM: YOU FILE THE RETURN, WE TRACK THE JOBS.
A bookkeeper records what happened, a CPA files it and advises on tax, and a CFO forecasts and plans. When a CPA firm brings a contractor client to SPM, your firm still files the return, issues the statements and gives the tax advice. SPM does the planning work: job costing built against the way the contractor estimates, a WIP schedule every month, a 13 week cash forecast and one meeting a month that ends in decisions. SPM serves commercial subcontractors and self-performing general contractors with $1M to $12M in revenue in the United States and Canada. SPM does not handle payroll.
This page is for CPAs and accountants with contractor clients. It covers when a client needs more than a return and a bookkeeper, how the work goes from the first call, and what the firm gets back.
WHAT IT MEANS.
When a CPA firm brings a commercial subcontractor client to SPM The Construction CFO, the firm continues to file the tax return, issue the financial statements and give the tax advice, and SPM does the monthly job costing, WIP reporting, bookkeeping and cash forecasting.
The contractor remains your client, and your firm still files the return, issues the statements and gives the tax advice. SPM does the monthly books, the job costing, the WIP schedule and the cash forecast.
FIVE SIGNS A CLIENT NEEDS MORE THAN A RETURN.
The books are right for the return and no use for the jobs
A contractor can close the year with accurate books and still not know which jobs made money. Job cost is posted late or not at all, so the profit by job is found at year end, after it could have changed a bid.
The owner asks about cash and the answer is last quarter's
Profit on the return and cash in the bank are different numbers when a contractor bills ahead of or behind progress. Billing ahead puts cash in the account and creates a liability that reverses as the work is built. Without a WIP schedule the owner cannot tell which position the company is in.
A surety or a banker asks for a WIP schedule and one is built in a week
Sureties require a current WIP schedule calculated from actual job cost. A contractor with 24 months of monthly WIP whose projections stayed within 5 percent of actual closeouts gets higher bonding limits and lower collateral requirements than an otherwise identical contractor without that history.
The overhead rate in the bids was never checked
Estimators bid from a book overhead rate that nobody updated. One $4.9M concrete sub bid at a 5 percent overhead rate while the real rate was 12 percent. The difference came out of every job it won.
Your staff answers coding questions on the last day of the month
The contractor's office sends coding questions and a bank reconciliation that will not balance. That work belongs in a monthly close with a cutoff, not in the weeks your firm is busiest.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
SPM migrates the books back to the start of the last taxable year and has a client fully operational in 60 days. When the tax year ends within three months, SPM migrates the history through the last day of that tax year and starts fresh.
The target for the owner's own time once the work is in place is about five hours a month. SPM does the bookkeeping, builds the reports and leads the monthly meeting.
This is the history a surety reads. A contractor that has it gets better bond terms, and the firm receives monthly WIP schedules to build the statements from.
FROM THE FIRST CALL TO THE MONTHLY CLOSE.
The contractor books the call from the scheduling page. Josh asks about cash, job costing and margins. Nothing is sold on that call and nothing is proposed.
When SPM can help, the contractor books a longer second call. The proposal covers the scope for that contractor and the published monthly rate for its revenue band.
SPM migrates the books back to the start of the last taxable year, assigns cost codes that follow the way the contractor estimates, rebuilds the overhead rate from the books and reconciles the accounts. When the tax year ends within three months, the history is migrated through the last day of that tax year and the books start fresh. Your firm starts the return and the statements from books that are current.
The month is closed on a schedule, the WIP schedule is built from job cost, and the owner meets with SPM once. The meeting ends in decisions with dates. The owner's own time is about five hours a month.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we do the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Your office stops answering coding questions and stops fixing a reconciliation that will not balance on the last day of the month.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the books, the job costing, and the software. No payroll.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
